Blair House

The Edinburgh Academy has an outdoor field centre. It is in the northeast of Scotland, at the head of Glen Clova, north-west of Kirriemuir, about two hours drive from Edinburgh. The area is a nature reserve and designated national scenic area. The centre is used almost continuously by the Academy. It is equipped with a biology lab, full cooking facilities and can accommodate 24 people.

Each geits class spends three days at the Centre, part of the time under canvas, and participates in a programme which includes map and compass work, safety in the hills, elementary rock-climbing, and hill-walking according to ability.

Thirds’ Dunolly Adventure Trip

The Thirds’ trip to Dunolly Outdoor Centre was a very memorable and exciting experience. We set off from school at Friday lunchtime and arrived in Aberfeldy to settle into the house and to have tea. Over the next two days we did many activities and tasks such as orienteering, climbing, team-building exercises, gorge walking, white-water rafting and logic problems. Everyone enjoyed the activities, particularly white-water rafting, which involved the pupils and teachers alike getting soaked from head to toe. The meals were top notch and we would like to say thank you to all the teachers and Dunolly staff.
John Harwell

Art in New York

This was mind-blowing, and after seeing masterpieces like Monet’s “Waterlilies” and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” many of us were left speechless. After going to Greenwich village for a quick lunch, we got back on the subway and headed out to the PS1 gallery- a more contemporary branch of the MoMA- which was situated in an old primary school building in Queens. There was a large collection of Chinese contemporary film and the highlight for many was a room with the ceiling missing looking out into the sky. It was a very calming piece in the middle of such a busy city.

On the return to Manhattan we went over the Brooklyn Bridge in the subway after a swift walk through Queens. We went back to the hotel to get ready for going out for our last night in New York. We headed for the Empire States Building, which was an amazing opportunity to view the city from such a height. The view was incredible, seeing all the buildings lit up at night was an unforgettable experience. And after many photos had been taken we crossed over the road to Foley’s Inn, an Irish restaurant, where we enjoyed our last meal together as a whole group.

On our final day, after loading the coach with all of our luggage and a final American breakfast, we went to the Metropolitan Museum Of Art, possibly the most famous art gallery in New York. This was another astounding gallery, partly due to the sheer size of it – millions of square feet of gallery space, with art ranging from modern Jackson Pollack’s to ancient Chinese and Egyptian art. It was so big most of us got lost, but this was no disadvantage as we all found ourselves stumbling upon famous pieces of art, or a gothic alter inside the museum, or into many of the special exhibitions we would not have normally come across. The special exhibitions included one of Robert Rauschenberg, an artist who many of us had looked at because of working with screen-printing with Sarah, our artist in residence. The Met was a truly one of a kind place, and we all saw many pieces of art we will never forget. Our sketchbooks by now were looking very full, with many sketches of places as well as artworks we had seen and mementos. As the coach pulled up to pick us up from the Met, we were all sad to leave the fabulous city of New York but also so tired from two days of lots of sightseeing we were slightly glad of the excuse of the plane to sit and do nothing but watch films for a few hours.

We would like to thank Mr Prosser, Mr Murray, Miss Hennessey, Gregor and Sarah for looking after us while in New York and taking us to some fantastic places none of us will forget, and also Mrs Prosser who we know helped a lot towards organising the trip but sadly could not go.
Catherine Beaumont and Sarah MaCartney